--- title: "10 Want Quotes By Alice Munro" description: "10 Want quotes by Alice Munro. Plus more from Alice Munro and more Want sayings from other authors." image: "https://sms4smile.com/quotes/i/82c/alice-munro-1231_cases_you-want-in-all-cases-for-the-story-to-g_2814623.png" --- > [You want in all cases for the story to get through the writing.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/alice-munro/you-want-in-all-cases-for-the-story-to-get-through-the-writing/) [Alice Munro](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/alice-munro/) [Image](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/i/82c/alice-munro-1231_cases_you-want-in-all-cases-for-the-story-to-g_2814623.png) > [I want my stories to move people ... to feel some kind of reward from the writing.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/alice-munro/i-want-my-stories-to-move-people-to-feel-some-kind-of-reward-from-the/) [Alice Munro](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/alice-munro/) [Image](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/i/d4f/alice-munro-1231_feel_i-want-my-stories-to-move-people-to-feel_1582672.png) > [The deep, personal material of the latter half of your life is your children. You can write about your parents when they're…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/alice-munro/the-deep-personal-material-of-the-latter-half-of-your-life-is-your/) [Alice Munro](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/alice-munro/) [Image](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/i/bd2/alice-munro-1231_children_the-deep-personal-material-of-the-latter_724153.png) > [What she wants to do if she can get the time to do it, is not so much to live in the…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/alice-munro/what-she-wants-to-do-if-she-can-get-the-time-to-do-it-is-not-so-much/) [Alice Munro](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/alice-munro/) [Image](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/i/260/alice-munro-1231_looking-good_what-she-wants-to-do-if-she-can-get-the_114102.png) > [I want the reader to feel something is astonishing. Not the 'what happens,' but the way everything happens. These long short story…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/alice-munro/i-want-the-reader-to-feel-something-is-astonishing-not-the-what/) [Alice Munro](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/alice-munro/) [Image](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/i/9a6/alice-munro-1231_astonishing_i-want-the-reader-to-feel-something-is-a_1383822.png) > [There's a kind of tension that if I'm getting a story right I can feel right away, and I don't feel that…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/alice-munro/there-s-a-kind-of-tension-that-if-i-m-getting-a-story-right-i-can/) [Alice Munro](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/alice-munro/) [Image](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/i/698/alice-munro-1231_books_there-s-a-kind-of-tension-that-if-i-m-ge_1735203.png) > [I want my stories to be something about life that causes people to say, not, oh, isn't that the truth, but to…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/alice-munro/i-want-my-stories-to-be-something-about-life-that-causes-people-to/) [Alice Munro](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/alice-munro/) [Image](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/i/f76/alice-munro-1231_books_i-want-my-stories-to-be-something-about_420217.png) > [She sits in her usual ample armchair, with piles of books and unopened magazines around her. She sips cautiously from the mug…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/alice-munro/she-sits-in-her-usual-ample-armchair-with-piles-of-books-and-unopened/) [Alice Munro](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/alice-munro/) [Image](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/i/bb1/alice-munro-1231_aids_she-sits-in-her-usual-ample-armchair-wit_135522.jpg) > [What if people really did that - sent their love through the mail to get rid of it? What would it be…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/alice-munro/what-if-people-really-did-that-sent-their-love-through-the-mail-to/) [Alice Munro](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/alice-munro/) [Image](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/i/4b0/alice-munro-1231_bloody_what-if-people-really-did-that-sent-thei_3183794.png) > [It's not possible to advise a young writer because every young writer is so different. You might say, "Read," but a writer…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/alice-munro/it-s-not-possible-to-advise-a-young-writer-because-every-young-writer-2/) [Alice Munro](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/alice-munro/) [Image](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/i/cf7/alice-munro-1231_able_it-s-not-possible-to-advise-a-young-writ_3060704.png) ## Other authors on Want ## More by Alice Munro > [William Maxwell's my favorite North American writer, I think. And an Irish writer who used to write for 'The New Yorker' called Maeve Brennan,…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/alice-munro/william-maxwell-s-my-favorite-north-american-writer-i-think-and-an/) [Alice Munro](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/alice-munro/) > [“Not very long ago I was driving with my husband on the back roads of Grey County, which is to the north and east…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/alice-munro/not-very-long-ago-i-was-driving-with-my-husband-on-the-back-roads-of/) [Alice Munro](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/alice-munro/) > [“Her silent singing wrapped around the story she was telling herself, which she extended further every night on the deck. (Averill often told herself…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/alice-munro/her-silent-singing-wrapped-around-the-story-she-was-telling-herself/) [Alice Munro](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/alice-munro/) > [“Something happened here. In your life there are a few places, or maybe only the one place, were something happened, and then there are…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/alice-munro/something-happened-here-in-your-life-there-are-a-few-places-or-maybe/) [Alice Munro](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/alice-munro/) > [My head was a magpie's nest lined with such bright scraps of information.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/alice-munro/my-head-was-a-magpie-s-nest-lined-with-such-bright-scraps-of/) [Alice Munro](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/alice-munro/) > [The thing is to be happy, no matter what. Just try that. You can. It gets to be easier and easier. It's nothing to…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/alice-munro/the-thing-is-to-be-happy-no-matter-what-just-try-that-you-can-it-gets/) [Alice Munro](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/alice-munro/) > [What she wants to do if she can get the time to do it, is not so much to live in the past as…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/alice-munro/what-she-wants-to-do-if-she-can-get-the-time-to-do-it-is-not-so-much/) [Alice Munro](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/alice-munro/) > [“Children Katy's age had no problem with monotony. In fact they embraced it, diving into it and wrapping the familiar words round their tongues…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/alice-munro/children-katy-s-age-had-no-problem-with-monotony-in-fact-they/) [Alice Munro](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/alice-munro/) > [“This is what happens. You put it away for a little while, and now and again you look in the closet for something else…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/alice-munro/this-is-what-happens-you-put-it-away-for-a-little-while-and-now-and/) [Alice Munro](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/alice-munro/) > [She sits in her usual ample armchair, with piles of books and unopened magazines around her. She sips cautiously from the mug of weak…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/alice-munro/she-sits-in-her-usual-ample-armchair-with-piles-of-books-and-unopened/) [Alice Munro](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/alice-munro/) > [The images, the language, of pornography, and romance are alike; monotonous and mechanically seductive, quickly leading to despair.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/alice-munro/the-images-the-language-of-pornography-and-romance-are-alike/) [Alice Munro](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/alice-munro/) > [I was a grade B housewife, maybe a B minus. But when I got time to write, I would be unable to finish a…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/alice-munro/i-was-a-grade-b-housewife-maybe-a-b-minus-but-when-i-got-time-to/) [Alice Munro](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/alice-munro/) > [She would live now, not read.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/alice-munro/she-would-live-now-not-read/) [Alice Munro](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/alice-munro/) > [“You would think as you get older your mind would fill up with what they call the spiritual side of things, but mine just…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/alice-munro/you-would-think-as-you-get-older-your-mind-would-fill-up-with-what/) [Alice Munro](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/alice-munro/) > [Peoples lives, in Jubilee as elsewhere, were dull, simple, amazing, unfathomable-deep caves paved with kitchen linoleum. . . . What I wanted \[to write…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/alice-munro/peoples-lives-in-jubilee-as-elsewhere-were-dull-simple-amazing/) [Alice Munro](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/alice-munro/) ```json { "@context": "https://schema.org", "@graph": [ { "@type": "ItemList", "@id": "https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/want/alice-munro/#itemlist", "name": "10 Want Quotes By Alice Munro", "numberOfItems": 10, "itemListElement": [ { "@type": "ListItem", "position": 1, "item": { "@type": "Quotation", "text": "You want in all cases for the story to get through the writing.", "creator": { "@type": "Person", "name": "Alice Munro" }, "url": "https://sms4smile.com/quotes/alice-munro/you-want-in-all-cases-for-the-story-to-get-through-the-writing/", "image": { "@type": "ImageObject", "@id": "https://sms4smile.com/quotes/i/82c/alice-munro-1231_cases_you-want-in-all-cases-for-the-story-to-g_2814623.png", "contentUrl": "https://sms4smile.com/quotes/i/82c/alice-munro-1231_cases_you-want-in-all-cases-for-the-story-to-g_2814623.png", "url": "https://sms4smile.com/quotes/i/82c/alice-munro-1231_cases_you-want-in-all-cases-for-the-story-to-g_2814623.png", "width": 1080, "height": 1080, "caption": "“You want in all cases for the story to get through the writing.” — Alice Munro", "creditText": "SMS4Smile Quotes", "creator": { "@id": "https://sms4smile.com/quotes/#organization" } } } }, { "@type": "ListItem", "position": 2, "item": { "@type": "Quotation", "text": "I want my stories to move people ... to feel some kind of reward from the writing.", "creator": { "@type": "Person", "name": "Alice Munro" }, "url": "https://sms4smile.com/quotes/alice-munro/i-want-my-stories-to-move-people-to-feel-some-kind-of-reward-from-the/", "image": { "@type": "ImageObject", "@id": "https://sms4smile.com/quotes/i/d4f/alice-munro-1231_feel_i-want-my-stories-to-move-people-to-feel_1582672.png", "contentUrl": "https://sms4smile.com/quotes/i/d4f/alice-munro-1231_feel_i-want-my-stories-to-move-people-to-feel_1582672.png", "url": "https://sms4smile.com/quotes/i/d4f/alice-munro-1231_feel_i-want-my-stories-to-move-people-to-feel_1582672.png", "width": 1080, "height": 1080, "caption": "“I want my stories to move people ... to feel some kind of reward from the writing.” — Alice Munro", "creditText": "SMS4Smile Quotes", "creator": { "@id": "https://sms4smile.com/quotes/#organization" } } } }, { "@type": "ListItem", "position": 3, "item": { "@type": "Quotation", "text": "The deep, personal material of the latter half of your life is your children. You can write about your parents when they're gone, but your children are still going to be here, and you're going to want them to come and visit you in the nursing home.", "creator": { "@type": "Person", "name": "Alice Munro" }, "url": "https://sms4smile.com/quotes/alice-munro/the-deep-personal-material-of-the-latter-half-of-your-life-is-your/", "image": { "@type": "ImageObject", "@id": "https://sms4smile.com/quotes/i/bd2/alice-munro-1231_children_the-deep-personal-material-of-the-latter_724153.png", "contentUrl": "https://sms4smile.com/quotes/i/bd2/alice-munro-1231_children_the-deep-personal-material-of-the-latter_724153.png", "url": "https://sms4smile.com/quotes/i/bd2/alice-munro-1231_children_the-deep-personal-material-of-the-latter_724153.png", "width": 1080, "height": 1080, "caption": "“The deep, personal material of the latter half of your life is your children. 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Not the 'what happens,' but the way everything happens. These long short story fictions do that best, for me.", "creator": { "@type": "Person", "name": "Alice Munro" }, "url": "https://sms4smile.com/quotes/alice-munro/i-want-the-reader-to-feel-something-is-astonishing-not-the-what/", "image": { "@type": "ImageObject", "@id": "https://sms4smile.com/quotes/i/9a6/alice-munro-1231_astonishing_i-want-the-reader-to-feel-something-is-a_1383822.png", "contentUrl": "https://sms4smile.com/quotes/i/9a6/alice-munro-1231_astonishing_i-want-the-reader-to-feel-something-is-a_1383822.png", "url": "https://sms4smile.com/quotes/i/9a6/alice-munro-1231_astonishing_i-want-the-reader-to-feel-something-is-a_1383822.png", "width": 1080, "height": 1080, "caption": "“I want the reader to feel something is astonishing. 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I kind of want a moment that's explosive, and I want everything gathered into that.", "creator": { "@type": "Person", "name": "Alice Munro" }, "url": "https://sms4smile.com/quotes/alice-munro/there-s-a-kind-of-tension-that-if-i-m-getting-a-story-right-i-can/", "image": { "@type": "ImageObject", "@id": "https://sms4smile.com/quotes/i/698/alice-munro-1231_books_there-s-a-kind-of-tension-that-if-i-m-ge_1735203.png", "contentUrl": "https://sms4smile.com/quotes/i/698/alice-munro-1231_books_there-s-a-kind-of-tension-that-if-i-m-ge_1735203.png", "url": "https://sms4smile.com/quotes/i/698/alice-munro-1231_books_there-s-a-kind-of-tension-that-if-i-m-ge_1735203.png", "width": 1080, "height": 1080, "caption": "“There's a kind of tension that if I'm getting a story right I can feel right away, and I don't feel that…” — Alice Munro", "creditText": "SMS4Smile Quotes", "creator": { "@id": "https://sms4smile.com/quotes/#organization" } } } }, { "@type": "ListItem", "position": 7, "item": { "@type": "Quotation", "text": "I want my stories to be something about life that causes people to say, not, oh, isn't that the truth, but to feel some kind of reward from the writing, and that doesn't mean that it has to be a happy ending or anything, but just that everything the story tells moves the reader in such a way that you feel you are a different person when you finish.", "creator": { "@type": "Person", "name": "Alice Munro" }, "url": "https://sms4smile.com/quotes/alice-munro/i-want-my-stories-to-be-something-about-life-that-causes-people-to/", "image": { "@type": "ImageObject", "@id": "https://sms4smile.com/quotes/i/f76/alice-munro-1231_books_i-want-my-stories-to-be-something-about_420217.png", "contentUrl": "https://sms4smile.com/quotes/i/f76/alice-munro-1231_books_i-want-my-stories-to-be-something-about_420217.png", "url": "https://sms4smile.com/quotes/i/f76/alice-munro-1231_books_i-want-my-stories-to-be-something-about_420217.png", "width": 1080, "height": 1080, "caption": "“I want my stories to be something about life that causes people to say, not, oh, isn't that the truth, but…” — Alice Munro", "creditText": "SMS4Smile Quotes", "creator": { "@id": "https://sms4smile.com/quotes/#organization" } } } }, { "@type": "ListItem", "position": 8, "item": { "@type": "Quotation", "text": "She sits in her usual ample armchair, with piles of books and unopened magazines around her. She sips cautiously from the mug of weak herb tea which is now her substitute for coffee. At one time she thought that she could not live without coffee, but it turned out that it is really the warm large mug she wants in her hands, that is the aid to thought or whatever it is she practices through the procession of hours, or of days.", "creator": { "@type": "Person", "name": "Alice Munro" }, "url": "https://sms4smile.com/quotes/alice-munro/she-sits-in-her-usual-ample-armchair-with-piles-of-books-and-unopened/", "image": { "@type": "ImageObject", "@id": "https://sms4smile.com/quotes/i/bb1/alice-munro-1231_aids_she-sits-in-her-usual-ample-armchair-wit_135522.jpg", "contentUrl": "https://sms4smile.com/quotes/i/bb1/alice-munro-1231_aids_she-sits-in-her-usual-ample-armchair-wit_135522.jpg", "url": "https://sms4smile.com/quotes/i/bb1/alice-munro-1231_aids_she-sits-in-her-usual-ample-armchair-wit_135522.jpg", "width": 1080, "height": 1080, "caption": "“She sits in her usual ample armchair, with piles of books and unopened magazines around her. She sips…” — Alice Munro", "creditText": "SMS4Smile Quotes", "creator": { "@id": "https://sms4smile.com/quotes/#organization" } } } }, { "@type": "ListItem", "position": 9, "item": { "@type": "Quotation", "text": "What if people really did that - sent their love through the mail to get rid of it? What would it be that they sent? A box of chocolates with centers like the yolks of turkey eggs. A mud doll with hollow eye sockets. A heap of roses slightly more fragrant than rotten. A package wrapped in bloody newspaper that nobody would want to open.", "creator": { "@type": "Person", "name": "Alice Munro" }, "url": "https://sms4smile.com/quotes/alice-munro/what-if-people-really-did-that-sent-their-love-through-the-mail-to/", "image": { "@type": "ImageObject", "@id": "https://sms4smile.com/quotes/i/4b0/alice-munro-1231_bloody_what-if-people-really-did-that-sent-thei_3183794.png", "contentUrl": "https://sms4smile.com/quotes/i/4b0/alice-munro-1231_bloody_what-if-people-really-did-that-sent-thei_3183794.png", "url": "https://sms4smile.com/quotes/i/4b0/alice-munro-1231_bloody_what-if-people-really-did-that-sent-thei_3183794.png", "width": 1080, "height": 1080, "caption": "“What if people really did that - sent their love through the mail to get rid of it? What would it be that…” — Alice Munro", "creditText": "SMS4Smile Quotes", "creator": { "@id": "https://sms4smile.com/quotes/#organization" } } } }, { "@type": "ListItem", "position": 10, "item": { "@type": "Quotation", "text": "It's not possible to advise a young writer because every young writer is so different. You might say, \"Read,\" but a writer can read too much and be paralyzed. Or, \"Don't read, don't think, just write,\" and the result could be a mountain of drivel. If you're going to be a writer you'll probably take a lot of wrong turns and then one day just end up writing something you have to write, then getting it better and better just because you want it to be better, and even when you get old and think, \"There must be something else people do,\" you won't be able to quit.", "creator": { "@type": "Person", "name": "Alice Munro" }, "url": "https://sms4smile.com/quotes/alice-munro/it-s-not-possible-to-advise-a-young-writer-because-every-young-writer-2/", "image": { "@type": "ImageObject", "@id": "https://sms4smile.com/quotes/i/cf7/alice-munro-1231_able_it-s-not-possible-to-advise-a-young-writ_3060704.png", "contentUrl": "https://sms4smile.com/quotes/i/cf7/alice-munro-1231_able_it-s-not-possible-to-advise-a-young-writ_3060704.png", "url": "https://sms4smile.com/quotes/i/cf7/alice-munro-1231_able_it-s-not-possible-to-advise-a-young-writ_3060704.png", "width": 1080, "height": 1080, "caption": "“It's not possible to advise a young writer because every young writer is so different. You might say…” — Alice Munro", "creditText": "SMS4Smile Quotes", "creator": { "@id": "https://sms4smile.com/quotes/#organization" } } } } ] }, { "@type": "CollectionPage", "@id": "https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/want/alice-munro/#webpage", "url": "https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/want/alice-munro/", "name": "Want Quotes by Alice Munro", "isPartOf": { "@id": "https://sms4smile.com/quotes/#website" }, "mainEntity": { "@id": "https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/want/alice-munro/#itemlist" }, "primaryImageOfPage": { "@id": "https://sms4smile.com/quotes/i/82c/alice-munro-1231_cases_you-want-in-all-cases-for-the-story-to-g_2814623.png" }, "description": "10 Want quotes by Alice Munro. 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